The present invention relates to an improved hood for cooking areas.
It is well-known that it is necessary to install an extractor and/or filtering hood in rooms where cooking is performed.
The hood is in fact meant to absorb and filter odors and grease released together with the food cooking fumes and/or, where present, combustion products.
The hood must in fact be located above the cooking area, which is generally constituted by gas ranges or electric ranges or wood-fired stoves or others, so that the cooking fumes and any combustion products can be conveyed directly toward said hood.
In order to avoid ambiguities, it must be specified that the term "hood" in itself is inappropriate but it is used by the present invention to indicate devices for filtering and/or extracting odors and grease and/or combustion products (hereinafter termed fumes) in accordance with the usage of this term in the field.
Commercially available hoods are substantially constituted by a frame which supports a fan which conveys the fumes produced in the cooking area through a filtering element which usually contains grease filters (of the metallic, labyrinth, condensation and acrylic types) and for eliminating odors (activated-charcoal filters, catalyst filters).
Various hoods are commercially available which substantially differ in terms of their structure and method of installation.
So-called central extractor hoods are available, i.e., of the type which is fixed directly to the wall; chimney hoods, meant to be fixed to a wall; and recessed-mounting hoods, arranged inside a wall-mounted unit of a modular kitchen.
There are also hoods which are installed underneath a wall-mounted kitchen unit and built-in hoods which are fixed in the place of the wall-mounted unit and have a front finish which comprises a door of the same type as the other wall-mounted units of the kitchen.
In any case, an unpleasant drawback is noted due to the fact that part of the cooking fumes and grease enters the gap between the rear face of the hood (or of the wall-mounted unit in which the hood is included) and the wall (rear panel of the piece of furniture).
This drawback causes odors to spread into the environment and accumulates moisture on the wall, causing the deposition of grease and the formation of mold.